Monday 11/20 A.M. Quickie:LaDainian, BCS, NL MVP and More

For the record, that makes 19 TDs in his last 6 games; he's the fastest to 100 career TDs in NFL history. Move over, Emmitt and Brown.

(I'm actually kind of curious to wonder if LT's career ended tomorrow, has he already had a Hall of Fame-worthy career?)

McNabb's season-ending injury is obviously yesterday afternoon's huge story. Given the Cowboys' huge win over the Colts, the balance of power in the NFC has shifted dramatically.

Favre's elbow injury is similarly intriguing, but not for any playoff-drive implications – simply for its impact on his 251-game starting streak. (Oh, and Aaron Rodgers sucks.)

Colts no longer unbeaten: Count me among the ones who would argue this is better for the Colts than to clinch the playoffs early and lose all momentum at the end of the season before the playoffs. Just look at last season.

49ers shock defending NFC champs: If you had the chance to buy "futures" in a team's next five years, I'd recommend buying the Niners over buying the Seahawks. Back in January, who would have thought that? (By the way, if there was an NFC MVP award, who else is willing to at least CONSIDER 49ers RB Frank Gore? Team-record 212 yards.)

BCS Update: Ohio State versus...?! Being down in Gainesville this past weekend, I had a LOT of time to ponder the state of the BCS. I have a separate item planned for later this morning, but it looks like if USC beats Notre Dame and UCLA, they'll vault Michigan. Otherwise, Michigan will play Ohio State in a rematch, which I can get behind in theory but think it's an atrocious idea in reality. More on this later.

Spurrier denies rumors he's going to The U. That's all fine and good – he's certainly a great fit being back in the SEC – but he'd be crazy not to jump back to a "brand name" school, let alone one based in Florida. If he had known Miami would be available two years ago before he took the South Carolina job, I think he would have waited for it. (Hell, I think if Miami thought they could get Spurrier two years ago, they would have ejected Coker to make it happen.)

NL MVP: Ryan Howard or Albert Pujols? That's your choice. My vote is for Howard, because I expand the definition of "valuable" to account for the fact that Howard's performance single-handedly kept casual fans' interest in baseball going in the dog days. He has replaced D. Willis as the "Face of Baseball." (Please don't say: "But I thought Jeter was the 'Face.'")

MLB Hot Stove: $oriano to Cubs! So the Cubs ARE committed to spending their way to success. I suppose that in the NL, starting pitching isn't nearly the decisive factor that it is in the AL, so teams can load up on the arms race to try to "offense" their way to the playoffs. (The Cubs need to look no further than the Mets.) The number is staggering: 8Y/$136M, second-largest in Cubs history. Say this: They ain't kidding around.

College Hoops: Georgetown shocker! Lose at campus bandbox McDonough Arena for the first time in 24 years, to Old Dominion. Certainly makes me feel less good about my picking them to the Final Four last week.

NBA: Shaq out 6 weeks after knee surgery. I'll say the same thing about Shaq that I always do when he gets hurt – who cares how many regular season games he plays? Anything less than a complete and total concentration on having him ready for the playoffs is a waste. All that matters is the ring.

"Congrats!" to: Jimmie Johnson, 2006 Nextel Cup Champ. (My one problem with the NASCAR system is that the "champ" can finish 9th in the final race en route to a title. Hardly dramatic.)

"See ya!" to: Rutgers Mania. Sigh. Well, that was fun while it lasted...

81 comments:

Dammit, Dan. I was so ready to jump on you for saying something annoying about Favre because I'm pissed NW beat UNCG yesterday in the Sweet 16, and you RUINED it for me by just stating the facts. DAMN YOU SHANOFF!

As for "Rodgers sucks", well, maybe, but it wasn't like Brett was getting anything done against the Pats D either yesterday.

LT is certainly the runaway choice for MVP, but it's interesting to note that his season really took off when Marty took the training wheels off of Rivers. Just like last year with Brees, the threat of the pass opens everything up for him and his power/versatility/vision does the rest. As a Chargers fan, I'm excited about the last portion of the season when some key defensive guys return.

1) LdT (think he finishes the year with 35 TDs, which is ridiculous)2) P. Manning (just in case there was any confusion, I added the initial...)3) Brees (Anyone else think he vaults up at least one spot if the Saints hold on to the NFC South?)4) McNair (He's not spectacular, but he's winning games)5) Brady (No chance, unless they win out. Even still...)

NL MVP: C'mon, it's Pujols. No suspense here - his team made the playoffs (and did a little damage along the way), the Phillies fell short.

Soriano's money is sick, but it's nice to see the Cubs actually trying to remain competetive. Now if they put Carlos Lee in RF, that's just overkill.

Pats look good again, real good, every aspect of the game...that move rookie RB Laurence Mauroney made for the last TD was ridiculous, one of those "defense player left standing with jock strap in hand" moments...WOW

I was at the Jets/Bears game... All I learned, Pennigton is hideous. The two interceptions he threw were SO BAD... He had a wide open receiver and just didn't see him.Bears played a good game though, I just don't believe they can go to the Super Bowl with Rex Grossman

Dan: Re - NASCAR. Think of it as golf. If Tiger Woods has the 9th best final round at the Masters (i know, hardly likely) but has built a big enough lead in the first three days, he'll be champion. Same with NASCAR.

LT is the MVP - he's been the League's best player the last 4 years... it'll be nice to see him be awarded for it.

OSU/MI 2 is fine in my book - but where's the national media's attention on the Wisconsin Badgers? It seems to me they are getting hosed here - they lose a close game to Michigan in the Big Ten opener, before they hit their stride. (if you recall, they handled everyone but Illinois the rest of the way). They didn't get a shot at OSU, and now they won't even get into the BCS because of a stupid rule (no more than 2 teams per conference). This is absurd. The Badgers will end the season with the fifth or sixth highest BCS total but won't be playing in the BCS. Thoughts???

It is going to be USC v. Ohio St. for the title. SC will roll all over Notre Dame and UCLA. I still think that Mich is the 2nd best team in the country and if they would have lost to OSU by the same score in the first week of the season there would be a rematch but since it was the last game of the year and because of the overkill by the media people do not really want to see a rematch.

Totally agree that the Colts are better off losing now. Plus, as bad as they looked yesterday, they only lost by a TD! How often are the Colts going to turn the ball over 4 times (5 if you count coming up short on their last possession with 1st and goal at the 8)? Not many, especially when you consider that Harrison hadn't fumbled since 2004.

Wisconsin didn't play anybody all year. The Big 10 is weak behind Mich, OSU, and I'll throw in Wisconsin. I don't like how not every team plays the same conference schedule. It creates an imbalance. But when conferences want to make money off a conference championship game, that's what happens.

As an example of an unfair advantage schedules can be I'll use KU's schedule. The Big 12 sets it up so you play 3 teams from the opposite division 2 years in a row, then the next two years you play the other 3. So here's KU's rotation:- Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech- Texas A&M, Baylor, Ok St.That's about as unbalanced you can get.

I'd love to see everyone play everyone, but in a twelve team league that takes up 11 games, leaving only one non-conference game. Eventually it would be boring in my opinion. I want to see different teams. I want to see games like OSU-TX, Ark-USC, etc.

Tomlinson should win the MVP, but he won't. The NFL is all about drooling over QBs so they'll give it Peyton again. The MVP is a joke of an award much like the Heisman. The starting QB on the best team wins. (Though I can't argue with Troy Smith after how he's played this year.)

I just wanted to say how proud I was of Florida on Saturday - up 55 - 0 on a D-II school and one of their first string QBs is throwing the ball down-field with 6 minutes to go in the fourth. Stay classy Florida...stay classy.

Yeah, that kind of sucks for the badgers. I know there's a rationale for the rule, because of money considerations (although it is and will always be pretty rate for a conference to have 3 in the top 6 or 7, since in general at least one of those teams would be knocked off by other teams in the conference; they should build in a loophole, with some change in the money considerations if necessary, to allow for three teams to make it to the BCS).

I'm still not 100% sure that michigan will manage to fend off all comers to hold on to the 2-spot. Obviously USC wins in the next two weeks would give it a boost int he computer rankings. I know Ark is WAY behind in the computers, but they have two games coming up against top-ten BCS teams; if they win out, is it possible they vault michigan in the rankings? I could see UF as well...

Anyway, sucks for the Big 10 that it has now been exposed as a no-defense inferior conference on the same level as the Big East (atually, there were fewer points scored in the mountaineer/cardinal tilt, so maybe the top teams in the Big East have slightly Better D's...)...

Being in the superdome yesterday, I'll wait for the final 6 games before I (a Saints Fan) would even go for Brees as MVP. I imagine a lot of people only see the stats 510yards, but Brees was a big part of the loss this week, early in the game threw 2 ill-advised INTs one into double one into triple coverage both in the endzone, one of them on a first down.

Our defense stepped up and stopped Cincinatti from doing anything on the turnorvers themselves but the difference would have been a 21-10 halftime instead of being down 7-10, the last interception was because we were forced to go down the field to make up form being down 14 when cinncinatti score 2 TDs late in the game, had the 2 TDs not happened the team could have taken their time in the 4th quarter and not HAD to force the ball. Brees is good, and MVP worthy but just need to minimize the very costly INTs and we easily win that game and he looks even more like an MVP.

at the same token I think being forced to use Terrance Copper (who once again had a very costly fumble after cathing the ball for the 2nd week in a row) proves how much more valuable Marques Colston is, I just hope his sprain isn't long term.

Seconded. Because we all know how one game indicates how an entire conference is situated defensively. We'll ignore how OSU and UM have both given up fewer points in 12 games than WVU has given up in 10.

I got to see the second half of that Colts game and I seriously think they tried to lose the game. That 4th down play on the final drive.. Peyton basically throws the ball away and HOPES that a ref is going to throw a flag?!? I really got the impression that they went in with the mindset that if they won, fine, but they weren't going to try hard. The radio announcers even commented about Reggie Wayne saying that the season was going along great and quiet until the Bears lost. I just think they wanted to go out and take a loss to a non-conference team to get the media off their back. As a Colts fan, I was disappointed for sure.. looking at their remaining schedule, I think they could have gone out and won out.. but that isn't the big prize in their minds.

NBA: Shaq out 6 weeks after knee surgery. I'll say the same thing about Shaq that I always do when he gets hurt – who cares how many regular season games he plays? Anything less than a complete and total concentration on having him ready for the playoffs is a waste. All that matters is the ring.

Is it possible that a player could be named the League MVP at the end of the season by not playing?

Case in point- Shaq. The Heat are (maybe) a .500 team without him. With him, prognosticators (and opponents) suspect a title repeat. Now that's serious consideration for MVP talk if Shaq's presence (or absence) makes his team that much better (or worse).

Oh I can argue with Troy Smith winning the heisman. For one thing, he isn't the best (or 2nd best, or 3rd best, or 4th best) player on his own team. I'd rather see it go to Ginn, Gonzalez, Pittman or Laurinitis, and thats just on Ohio State.

I want Michigan to play OSU in the national championship. And Michigan should win. Because although they can call themselves national champs, they can't call themselves Big-10 champs. You can't take that away. What a joke the BCS is that a team that can't even win it's conference could be crowned as best in the country.

sarcasm, man. although i guess you aren't in the most humorous of moods (rough weekend in michigan...).

Great game. although if there IS a rematch, michigan needs to seriously bone up on tackling and positioning. One-long run up the middle is bad, but they gave up two untouched (mostly) runs for over 50. There was some tough hitting out there though.

Don't think you can get away with that kind of thing, nyc-steelers, we big-conference bullies are too smart for it.

Reference the CFB Tailgate comments for the breakdown of how many points OSU and Michigan have allowed in 12 games, versus the Big East-ers' points allowed in 9 & 10 games.

Also, maybe somebody can look into how many Cincinnati scored vs. OSU, as opposed to the score Cincinnati rang up on the Big East's present head-to-head-to-head leader...

Michigan's chances at retaining the BCS lead over the rest of the one-loss crew are intriguing. Will a few weeks give voters a chance to think about whether they're voting for the best team, or the team they want to see in the game? Will a close home win over Notre Dame force them to evaluate that comparison between USC and Michigan, and rank them accordingly? Will the depth of the SEC continue to damn its top teams when LSU rides the momentum from Saturday's huge Home OT win to a victory over Arkansas?

Does the SEC really even have a chance to jump Michigan? I don't look that deep into the way the numbers work, but aren't they too far behind to catch a team that's done with its season already?

Oh I can argue with Troy Smith winning the heisman. For one thing, he isn't the best (or 2nd best, or 3rd best, or 4th best) player on his own team. I'd rather see it go to Ginn, Gonzalez, Pittman or Laurinitis, and thats just on Ohio State.

Richard I hope you are not serious let's see what kind of numbers Ginn and Gonzo would have without Smith getting them the ball. You do realize that Smith had 4 TDs to 4 different players you dumb fuck. Pittman would also not be as effective if Smith was not such a great passer and as for Animal's son he is the next great OSU LB but do not say he is better than Smith

Want to know how stupid the 72 dolphins 17-0 record is? The 73 dolphins were actually a better team, so what if they had a loss. They were completely more dominant. Also, the 2006 Colts would totally mop the floor with the 72 dolphins. Players now are bigger faster and stronger and teams are so much better now. I think even the 2006 Cardinals would beat the 72 dolphins. So keep popping that champagne boys, you're not the greatest team of all time by a long shot.

Man, I took so long to post, you had already noted your sarcasm. Gotta be quicker on the draw with this.

Anyway, one of those guys is actually a Buckeye... I think it's just that those of us who realize that the Big East is not really as good as ESPN.com's crew were pretending they were are sensitive; when a bunch of different writers and commenters suggest that the Big East midweek showdown is just as great a game as Texas-USC and UM-OSU, and mean it, we feel like it's our duty to quash the foolish sentiment before it can grow.

richard - are you crazy? I've been a doubter all year, but Troy Smith... damn him to hell, but that sumbitch can play some ball.

Yeah, Ben. Just like good old MLB where a Red Sox team can win the World Series after having not even won it's own division. Or Pittsburgh not winning their division and going on to win the Super Bowl... you hear a lot of people bitching about them not winning their division when talking about their championships.

Sorry, nyc-steelers... yeah, sarcasm is a bit lost on me this morning after that weekend.

If Arkansas and USC both finish with 1 loss, USC has to get the nod over Arkansas because of head-to-head.

If USC loses, that hurts Arkansas' SOS in the computers. If USC loses to Notre Dame (far more likely than UCLA), it also helps UM's SOS, so that's really a double-strike on Arkansas. In the end, too large of a hill for Arkansas to overcome.

Florida, however, might be able to pull it off. They need to dominate Arkansas easily and they need to hope Arkansas beats LSU. They also need to have as many as their defeated opponents win.. so that means they need to be pushing for So. Miss against Marshall, Central Florida against UAB, Tennessee against Kentucky (although they've beaten both), Georgia over Tech, and SC over Clemson. Luckily for them, Auburn is done.

And while they don't definitely need USC to lose, it would help.

What Florida also has to do is stop whining. Urban's most recent comments are just going to annoy people. Act like men.

I just wanted to say how proud I was of Florida on Saturday - up 55 - 0 on a D-II school and one of their first string QBs is throwing the ball down-field with 6 minutes to go in the fourth. Stay classy Florida...stay classy.

We trhew 3 passes (of 18 plays) in the last 20 minutes of the game, and that one was short, WCU just didn't tackle. Florida pulled most their starters before the 1/2 and had a WR playing QB for a lot of the second 1/2 (we don't really have a 3rd stringer).

But, it's ok that Brady Quinn was in the game and throwing the ball with 10 minutes left to go v. Army because it was senior...or that they took a shot with Quinn at the endzone v. Air Force with 8 minutes left to go because that triple option attack is prone to making up 22 point leads with 8 minutes left in the game.

2 quick points for full disclosure: 1.) i am a gator('91) 2.) i have spent every saturday this year watching college gameday and football all day and night so i have seen all the teams i will talk about on numerous occasions(great when you have a girlfriend(ou '94) that understands your passion)

SOMEBODY HELP ME UNDERSTAND?!?!?!?!

mich v. osu: great game, but neither team played any defense. they have looked good(defensive stats) all year because they play in a down(apologies to bucky only) big-10 and haven't played anybody(osu-ut being the only possible exception, but you get what you get when you are playing against a team with a freshman qb making his first start...and ut has proven to have a not-so-good defense themselves)

usc: on gameday sat., FOR THE FIRST TIME ALL YEAR, lee corso wants to talk about the importance of non-conference wins as a measuring stick and reason to determine who should and should not go to the bcs championship game; so, usc's wins against nebraska(big 12 north champion by default suckiness), arkansas(qb situation muddled and no mcfadden), and maybe notre dame(who has beaten exactly no one), are better than either uf's or arkansas...and he is technically correct, but by a lot less than he professes. however, USC PLAYS IN THE PAC-10!!! so their non-conference games are the hardest. i understand that they can't help what conference they are in, but that does not make their schedule ok, or even come close to uf's or even arkansas'. comparing non-conference schedules is ridiculous - and where was this argument before sat.? oh, by the way...USC LOST TO OREGON FUCKING STATE!!

notre dame: one quality win possibly gets you into a national championship game? please let the earth implode if this happens. they can't go over michigan, can they? no really, they can't...can they? this is the world we live in.

the big east is exposed: i loved the run by rutgers, but never did i take them, or anyone else in the big east, seriously. they should all(sunj, wvu, lou) be glad they didn't have to go through the embarrassment of getting taken behind the woodshed by osu in the title game. schiano should run as fast as he can to miami, work his magic where he can have a legitimate shot at the national title. and, of course i hate miami, so i actually hope they retain coker.

sec: for all you people who now say the sec is overrated...you just don't get it. at the beginning of the year, when everyone was talking about how the sec is the best conference, and it would be a miracle if anyone ran the table, guess what? they were CORRECT. the conference is so tough that no one(save possibly arkansas) will go unscathed. and the depth in that conference is much much better than the big-10 or pac-10(sorry, this year the big-12 and acc don't even belong in the conversation); that is why vandy can beat georgia and give uf all they can handle, why miss can hang with and almost win at lsu,etc. the athletes are just SO MUCH BETTER than any other conference, but they all canibalize each other so the perception is that it is an overrated conference. that is backward logic...you can't say that they are a great conference because they have so many great teams, and then say they are an overrated conference once those great teams start beating each other. as great a game as mich-osu was, there is NO WAY IN HELL either of those teams drop 30 on uf, not to mention the rest of the top tier in the sec.

if i may channel kanye west, kirk herbstreit hates the sec: he said that on a neutral field, michigan wins "convincingly" if they play uf or arkansas. oh, really, kirk? so you did not see how osu ran and passed at will all day against mich? scored 42 even with all the turnovers? remember folks, this is the same guy who picked miami(fl) to win the national championship before the season...nice one. i am convinced that the espn/abc guys are instructed to downplay the sec because, years ago, the sec took most of their business to cbs. it's irresponsible biased "journalism" and big-10, pac-10, notre dame slurping, and i have lost a lot of respect for him. fowler is the only reasonable mind on that show. corso picked cal for the national championship at the beginning of the year. nice one, lee.

having said all that, i am not here to pimp uf for the title game. there is a little matter of fsu and the sec title game first. but if either uf or arkansas win out, i will not understand if they are left out, even given usc's win over arkansas. again, usc lost to oregon fucking state!! notre dame will have 1 quality win and a piss-poor sched, and michigan will have 2 quality wins(bucky, and i reluctanly add notre dame) and a mediocre sched. it is why we need a 16-team playoff...and that is the only number that will work, because you can only tell a would-be 17th team to go pound sand(like they do to a 66th team in the basketball tournament)...you can't do that to a 9th place team and be comfortable about it.

quick note: my father played for d-3 uw-whitewater in the 60's and is in their hall of fame(o and d line...double duty back in the day). whitewater was in the d-3 championship game last year and had a good showing against a powerful mount union dynasty. whitewater won their first playoff, yes, PLAYOFF, game over st. norbert sat. 59-12(go warhawks). my reason for mentioning this is that d-3 does it right...they play 10 games and have a 32 team playoff and there is no arguing the champion. it's just winner take all once the playoffs start, not somebody's opinion or numbers plugged into a computer or "style points", etc. just pure football. i just hope i see that come to fruition in d-1 during my lifetime.

I didn't perceive Urban's comments as being that annoying. In his typical fashion, he just said he thinks we might need a playoff, if this is what the BCS gives us. It wasn't anywhere close to what Tubberville was doing. The guy speaks his mind and eschews coach speak. If that really bothers people, then I don't know what to tell you.

Florida could pass Michigan, but only with help from the human polls. Florida's task is to somehow convince the coaches and Harris voters that they deserve a shot more than Michigan does. That's the only way.

Remember when the defenders of the BCS said that every week of CFB was a playoff? So where did that go now that these same people (Herbie) are talking about a rematch in Glendale?

If a rematch were to happen and OSU wins, I think it cheapens the championship to some out there who will then say "they should have played USC/ND/UF instead of UM"

If UM were to win, then it cheapens the Championship because they are 1-1 v. OSU but won the "more important" game, even though they didn't win their conference but made it to the championship game.

With all apologies to Mike Hart, UM had their shot and lost. Blame the fans, the field, the hotel rooms all you want, that's why next year we play at your place.

What I'd love to see is OSU v. UF and Mich get USC in the Rose. That way we can maybe get some closure on all of this, even though USC at the Rose Bowl is a de facto home game, and Mike Hart doesn't seem to like those.

LDT: Likely to shatter last year's 28 rushing TDs record. Currently on pace for 33.

McNabb: Yea, but did he puke?

Favre: If he has to miss significant time, retire.

Colts: Peyton lets himself get far too concerned about referee calls (or lack thereof in his opinion) and starts gunning to try and make the officials throw flags.

49ers: Meh.

BCS: I'll post my new ladder rankings in the BCS thread, but Michigan made the rematch at least tempting to see. Lots of clamor today for an 8-team playoff system, which is what I've wanted to happen. You can leave non-BCS teams out of the BCS bowls, but if you leave out conference winners from the "playoffs" there WILL be lawsuits.

Spurrier: As a Gamecocks fan, I'm not really worried about this. Spurrier can't win an SEC Championship in Miami, and despite this year's record, the Gamecocks only need very minor improvements to make the SEC title game. They're only 3 freakish tipped passes caught for TD away from being in THIS year's title game.

ND's SOS is up there with a lot of teams - they played eight teams going to bowl games. Its Notre Dame and they are a 10-1...why is anyone questioning the fact that they are in consideration for a NC? Given the fact that they have no chance of making it to Glendale everyone sure is bitching a lot about ND...after they beat USC in the colleseum will ND get any credit - probably not, everyone will say USC was overrated going in. The hatred of ND knows no bounds...

Freky, assuming that three tipped TD passes would have added three wins to South Carolina's tally, I have South Carolina with 2 SEC losses, and UF with one (unless you are saying one of those TDs was against Florida, which I don't exactly remember). I think you mean three tipped TD passes, and three blocked field goals away from the title game.

I agree that the Championship game will come down to USC/Mich/ND and I think the first 2 have certainly earned it.

But I don't like the reasoning for Michigan. The OSU/Michigan game looked sloppy to me, and obviously didn't have much defense. OSU's 2 quality wins are against Texas, who have been exposed, and Michigan. And Michigan has only beaten ND and a surprisingly frisky Penn State.

OSU deserves it all the way, obviously. But 2 teams essentially lost their shot at the title game: Michigan and Rutgers. They should not be given another chance, and it's only Michigan's history that is keeping them in this. They couldn't win a game a day after Bo died? Really?

OSU final opponent should be one of these three:FloridaArkansas (yes early games should be discounted).USC

The Heisman is a BS popularity contest as we all know, but let's not get crazy on that list of yours.

Since 1991 only 3 players have won it from schools that aren't considered "powerhouses" in CFB (with apologies to Wisco, but you aren't a household name in preseason BCS talk) and you've got what, 1 defensive winner in the last 25+ years?

So that said, sorry to the players on your list, but it is going to come down to Troy v. Brady, and since most of the voters listen to the talking heads out there, Troy has already won it.

Ginn is probably going to go pro this year as a result of Troy being out of eligibility, and I can't blame him. I wouldn't want to sit there and risk injury and a "down year" from Mel Kiper because Todd B. is learning to read defenses.

The heisman is no different than student body president (or for that matter, president of the us of a). Straight Hype.

Where is this "Quinn can't take a hit" coming from? He has been sacked three times as much as troy smith and is putting up better numbers. His numbers since Michigan off the top of my head are something like 26 TDs and 2 picks - and he gets sacked a ton...again where is this coming from. He had one bad game where two passes were tipped for INTs. You people are insane. Your hatred knows no limits.

Maher--*I* didn't blow anything. I'm a Gator fan who thinks Michigan had their chance and should move on. They gave a valiant effort, but you only get one shot at #1, IMO. Let USC or the SEC champ take a crack. I'm sure OSU fans would prefer this as well.

Where is this "Quinn can't take a hit" coming from? He has been sacked three times as much as troy smith and is putting up better numbers. His numbers since Michigan off the top of my head are something like 26 TDs and 2 picks - and he gets sacked a ton...again where is this coming from. He had one bad game where two passes were tipped for INTs. You people are insane. Your hatred knows no limits.

Um, Brady Quinn threw those TDs against, Air Force, Navy, Army, Stanford, UCLA. Not exactly stout D's. Look we all know that you love to suck Brady's dick but let's not compare his numbers to Smith's and remember Tub o' Shit Weiss likes to keep Brady in there to pad his stats after the game is well in hand. What a classy coach you have there in South Bend.

So smith putting up big numbers against Indiana, N. Illinois, Cincy, Bowling Green, Minnesota, N'western and Illinois (oops forgot he crapped the bed in that game)doesn't count? Quinn beat up Penn State where Smith couldnt and Smith beat up Michigan where Quinn couldn't. Quinn is the better QB, but Smith is having a damn good year and will win the Heismann. Smith has twice the line and more weapons. Quinn has been abused this year (getting sacked 30 times is a lot) and is putting up comprable numbers to Smith. But Smith is infalliable and Quinn is overrated and can't play under pressure (even though every time he has needed to score on the final drive of a close game he has gotten the score throughout his career)? Somebody explain to me how Quinn is Peyton-esque...just one argument other than your personal, idiotic opinion on the matter would be nice.

If anybody is interested I have a couple of grand for you if you take out Plummer's knee. LTD=The fucking man. This coming from die hard Bronco fan. Seriously though when does Shanny put in the kid. Help me off this ledge please.

vandy got "beat down" by michigan 27-7? did you watch that game geoff? there were some boos coming from that big house crowd due to the wolverines play that day. um has come a long way since then...against the big-10. for anyone to say that the big-10 compares to the sec does not watch the games.

Yeah, Michigan played pretty bad and beat an SEC team 27-7. Imagine if they had played a good game? Just tired of people talking about how good the SEC is when head-to-head it just doesn't show. Maybe the conference is so mediocre that everyone looks good.

let's remember that vandy did finish at the bottom of the ec east. in no way was i holding them up as the flagship school of the sec. i think about 5 other teams(ark, lsu, aub, tenn, fla,) can represent. compared to the 3 big-10 teams that played this year. there was not 1 upset over those 3. but, yeah, the sec is way overrated.

I just want to give a little love to my boy Jason Campbell. No Portis or Moss and the kid looked poised and confident back there. He has a cannon for an arm...it was so nice to have a QB who isn't all washed up out there. Too bad the Washington defense is still pathetic. I don't know how anyone who watched Campbell can say it's a bad idea that he's in there. Also, can someone tell me how Bill Maas has a job b/c he's terrible?

You got me ND fan I am not a big fan of Notre Dame and anytime they have a highly regarded QB he gets a lot of hype (Ron Powlus). I am also not an Ohio St. fan but have been amazed at the progress that Troy Smith has made in 3 years and really think that he could be a first round pick in next year's draft. I think it was Herbie who said that he is similar to Drew Brees and I can see that.

As for Quinn he may be what the NFL looks for in a QB as far as size but honestly I am not impressed with his arm strength. Again because he is at Notre Dame and is coached by Tuna Jr. he is getting a lot of hype this year.

1) Both teams will have played 7 bowl-eligible this season, so SOS in that regards is pretty even. Note, however, that OSU is 7-0 while ND is 6-1 against bowl-eligible opponents.

2) Smith's one truly lousy game (Penn State; versus Illinois the entire offense just was ineffectual in the second half) still resulted in him having a highlight-worthy TD pass. That's what helps him there.

I got to see the second half of that Colts game and I seriously think they tried to lose the game. That 4th down play on the final drive.. Peyton basically throws the ball away and HOPES that a ref is going to throw a flag?!?

I don't know that they tried to lose, but I definitely think Manning was thinking about how his QB rating would be affected by throwing an interception rather than a completion.

Michigan lost. Period. The END. They gave it a great try. Their #1 Run Defense was exposed. Ohio State's defense wasn't much better. Like someone said before, Datish TRIED to help Michigan TWICE with his flubbed shotgun snaps (I almost had a coronary the second time!)

Troy Smith looked great. He deserves the Heisman IMO. Brady Quinn? Eh, It's not that I think he's overrated, but he's not better than Troy Smith. I am an ND fan but not the "Oh my gosh, the Irish deserve everything" fan.

HAHAHA, some egg on my face, I accidentally posted this on the tailgate thread.

I'd be willing to bet that some no-name local access cable TV channel "journalist" who happens to know a Miami booster was told that they'd like to see a guy like Spurrier run that program and clean it up.

Next thing you know the story has snowballed into Spurrier having already packed his bags and accepting the job yesterday.

OF COURSE Miami would like to have Spurrier. I would imagine any self-respecting school would want a coach the calibur of Spurrier.

Shame on the ESPN journalist that ran with this story and proclaimed it to be fact. Even if the story later ends up being true, the journalism has been shoddy at best.

I think a strong case could be made that Notre Dame played a tougher schedule then UM this year. And I would say USC losing by 2 to Oregon St. is pretty equal to ND's loss to the #2 team in the country. ND lost by a lot more points, but to the team that is STILL #2 in the country. In the end it doesn't matter, ND is not going to make the NC game even if they win out.

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.